Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three

[Frontier]

Hopefully they close this comic out on a good note.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

Saving Ra's al Ghul for the final arc of this series was a wise move. His presence and organization already give the comic a different flavor compared to everything we've seen. Ty Templeton did a great job with the fancy lair and beach scenes, especially with how they contrast with the dark, grimy, and rainy Gotham scenes between the woman and her mysterious pursuers. It was pretty cool to see Bullock and Montoya again. Talia and Ubu look classic as always (who is the other goon with Ubu?) and spoilers:

It's kind of cool how Ra's got a redesign to reflect his old age rather than just graying out like in the cover.

end of spoilers

The Max reference is kind of corny, but at this point, it feels more tongue-in-cheek, so it's harder to get mad about it.

spoilers:

The ending reveal with Catwoman and the Talons was intriguing. What history does she have with them? Did they try to turn her into a Talon? Is Mayor Hill back? Is Ra's involved with the Court of Owls? I'm kind of annoying that they're shoving Harley and Ivy here. Honestly, I would've preferred they kept them from the previous story to make this more of a Gotham City Sirens bit, which Paul Dini also wrote.

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The thing is this series isn't necessarily canon to Beyond according to the writers

I don't think that was ever confirmed, just speculated due to some discrepancies. Still, we did get a major connection to Batman Beyond via the power armor subplot from the Straightman arc, so I wouldn't put it past them.

[thwhtGuardian]

The shameless Max plug aside this was a solid issue, I loved the offer by Ra's and it'll be interesting to see how Poison Ivy, Catwoman and the Talons tie into it all. It's weird that this book is far superior to either Batman or Detective at the moment.

[Frontier]

I guess every season has had a forced Max plug so I wasn't surprised .

Saving Ra's al Ghul for the final arc of this series was a wise move. His presence and organization already give the comic a different flavor compared to everything we've seen. Ty Templeton did a great job with the fancy lair and beach scenes, especially with how they contrast with the dark, grimy, and rainy Gotham scenes between the woman and her mysterious pursuers. It was pretty cool to see Bullock and Montoya again. Talia and Ubu look classic as always (who is the other goon with Ubu?) and spoilers:

It's kind of cool how Ra's got a redesign to reflect his old age rather than just graying out like in the cover.

end of spoilers

The Max reference is kind of corny, but at this point, it feels more tongue-in-cheek, so it's harder to get mad about it.

spoilers:

The ending reveal with Catwoman and the Talons was intriguing. What history does she have with them? Did they try to turn her into a Talon? Is Mayor Hill back? Is Ra's involved with the Court of Owls? I'm kind of annoying that they're shoving Harley and Ivy here. Honestly, I would've preferred they kept them from the previous story to make this more of a Gotham City Sirens bit, which Paul Dini also wrote.

end of spoilers



I don't think that was ever confirmed, just speculated due to some discrepancies. Still, we did get a major connection to Batman Beyond via the power armor subplot from the Straightman arc, so I wouldn't put it past them.

spoilers:

You could take Harley out of the last arc and virtually nothing would really change much (I guess she helped the Squad find Joker if I remember right but that's about it).

end of spoilers

[clonegeek]

Are they going to follow up on the Red Hood/Deathstroke plot soon or is that just abandoned

[clonegeek]

spoilers:

You can feel the vibes that this is the final arc because crime in Gotham is quiet for once, Bruce is on a vacation and questioning whether he needs to keep being Batman, some nice call-backs...and Ra's is the final boss. Beach episode! Ty Tempeton drew those swimsuit clad ladies quite well. Talia, always Bruce's greatest temptation (next to Catwoman). And she's as stunning and alluring as ever. Also first on-screen sex scene between the two in the DCAU. There's no way Ra's is completely on the up and up, so I'm guessing he's either trying to find a new Lazarus Pit source or there's more to his plan than just seemingly giving Bruce the key to ending world hunger. I really didn't like how little Catwoman did in her appearance in season 1, so I'm glad to see her more plot relevant here, and while the prospect of some Gotham City Sirens content is nice...did we really need yet another story with Harley this season?

end of spoilers

I wonder we are going to get a DCAU Daiman to round out the four Robins

[Frontier]

Are they going to follow up on the Red Hood/Deathstroke plot soon or is that just abandoned

I think future solicits mentioned they'd show up in this arc.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

Are they going to follow up on the Red Hood/Deathstroke plot soon or is that just abandoned

Dini and Burnett teased in an interview that they wanted to revisit that in a one-shot issue or a graphic novel since it was "too big" for any of the seasons. Who knows if that's actually happening, though.

[phonogram12]

Honestly, this season really hasn't done much for me. Found it pretty dull, quite frankly. Hopefully they can make up for it by the end.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

Artist Jacob Edgar is taking over art duties for the final two issues. Here's some samples of his work on the next issue.

[Frontier]

Artist Jacob Edgar is taking over art duties for the final two issues. Here's some samples of his work on the next issue.

Sucks that Ty won't be able to close out, but the art feels in-line with his style compared to the last fill-in.

[Hypo]

Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three #7 Preview
Writers: Alan Burnett & Paul Dini
Artists: Ty Templeton with Norm Rapmund & Jacob Edgar

[Frontier]

I hesitate to want more Harley this season, but at least they're using Ivy better.

[Frontier]

spoilers:

This was a fun issue. I'm interested to see the reveal of what Ra's is really plotting and how it ties to the Court of Owls, and the Court feels much more effective here than they did in season 2 (even got winged variants)! I'm about tired of Harley continually popping up in this book, but it's nice to see Ivy not be a damsel in distress and relevant to the plot. Finally some good Catwoman content! From that kiss, to the princess carry, to propositioning shower sex...good stuff! Also she finally meets Talia, which is surreal. Poor Kirk. Became a Man-Bat addict and Francine is leaving him while he's being held captive.

end of spoilers

[GamerSlyRatchet]

I really enjoyed this issue. Honestly, I haven't been the biggest fan of the multi-part story arcs in this series, but this one feels tightly paced and interesting the whole time. I guess it helps that the premise feels big enough to warrant the extra length, while stuff like the Mayor Mayhem or Straightman stories could've been told in two issues.

The art transition throughout the issue was noticeable, but mostly seamless. Jacob Edgar is doing a good job fitting in the style, with a noticeable softer side. I particularly liked how he drew Poison Ivy and Talia.

spoilers:

The most interesting aspect is how they incorporated a lot of female B:TAS characters in the story. Although I miss Poison Ivy being a villain in these stories, I was happy that she had a substantial role and wasn't just a prop to incite Harley Quinn stories. Harley was just comic relief for once. Francine Langstrom is understandably angry at her situation and decides to just leave Gotham. Chalk another friendly female supporting character who ended up hating Batman, just like Leslie Thompkins. Catwoman and Talia have the meatiest roles and I have to say I really like their dynamic. While there is some needling between them, I liked that they didn't get angry at each other over Bruce or something cheesy like that. They never met in the DCAU, so it's cool that they did that here. The Court of Owls feels more menacing than ever, and it helps that these new Talons don't feel as feeble as before. Yeah, I'm thinking Ra's al Ghul has taken over the Owls, since the Talons imprisoning Catwoman and Man-Bat fits too nicely with Ra's proposing that crime in Gotham is over. I swear the head Talon's costume looks A LOT like the demon armor that Ra's wore in that Kenner action figure. Maybe the grain was enhanced by whatever Hamilton Hill Sr. used to make himself younger. Speaking of that, I was surprised Gordon knew the truth about Hill since it was supposed to be a secret from the public. I guess Batman had to trust someone with that, and Gordon probably kept it to maintain Hill's good name, even if he doesn't deserve it. My only issue is more of a personal taste, but I didn't like the reveal that Kirk Langstrom is now an addict to the Man-Bat formula. Yeah, I know the Talons probably forced it on him for this story, but Francine's dialogue implies he's done it before. It kind of reeks of Dini and Burnett finding contrived ways to reuse villains that weren't meant to be recurring. It just strikes me as overly cynical, especially when this series had the Ventriloquist reform again. What if he just relapses again and it undoes that ending?

end of spoilers